@Rachel631: Thanks for sharing. I didn’t read the whole thing. I have two cats, strictly indoors. We let them out in the yard under supervision only. We adopted the second cat at age 1, and his behavior has changed dramatically. He was wild and nervous. He got stressed easily, but we didn’t let him outside. We give them a lot of love and attention, and he is a changed cat. I believe cats can get adjusted, and I would rather protect my cats a million times then have them suffer or have a tragic accident alone.

@candy11: I would expect that to be the case coming from the US, to be honest. I suspect that a large amount of it comes from the culture. I don’t know how far you read, but I did discuss what I did for my own cats at the end of the post, and suggested factors which should encourage the owner to choose either way. I currently have four cats (one missing). Currently (because this is always subject to change, depending on their health and local circumstances) one has 24/7 outdoor access, one has outdoor access during the daytime only, one is strictly indoor, and the missing cat, if she returns, will also be strictly indoor… OK, maybe a jog inside a secure cat run, or a walk around the garden on a lead, but that’s it.

You don’t see many people who have both outdoor access and indoor only cats in this debate, which I think is interesting.

I feel badly because the missing cat should always have been an indoor only cat, really, but the needs of my other cats and the practicalities of that meant that it didn’t happen. I think I would feel much less guilty if my 24/7 outdoor access cat was missing, simply because I know that I made the right choice for her.

One thing I don’t say is that UK charities will not generally rehome to you unless you provide some level of outdoor access. They would certainly not rehome 3 out of my 4 existing cats to me unless I promised to provide that for them. Missing cat would probably not be required to have outdoor access under current rehoming criteria, but an enclosed garden would be strongly recommended (something I do not currently have).

@Rachel631: An enclosed garden/yard is my dream. My husband and I would like to provide that to our cats that way they can go out and come in as they please but only if they are enclosed. The only few times one of my cats got out of the fence becaue he was too quick to run was completely lost in the street. He didn’t go too far luckly, and my heart was getting out of my chest at the thought that something bad would happen to him.

As a little background, we found him wondering in the street when he was very little (2 months old) and he has zero knowledge of outdoors even less how to survive. I think it’s all about adjustment and the environment one can provide. I think my cats are healthy and happy and that’s all I can ask for. I understand that each cat might have different personalities and needs and that must be respected. I try my best to treat them both the same, and I do know what they like and dislike. Hope your cat returns.

@candy11: Thank you! Have adapted that article just now, actually, to indicate the differences in charitable recommendations in both countries and the difference in what people mean when they say “outdoor” (I suspect in the US, people think it means “they spend most of their time outdoors”. In the UK, it usually means “they spend most of their time indoors, but go out for an hour here or there”).

Also… average house sizes! Why did I not think of that sooner? The average American home is over 2.5 times larger than the average British one, and disposable incomes are generally much higher. That means British kitties are far more likely to develop “cabin fever” if they are kept as indoor only cats. I grew up in a house which was probably a good 2.5-3 times the size of my current one, and if that’s the size of the average home in the US then I can see why it’s easier to keep animals indoors there.

Anyway, I digress… I still really miss my missing cat. I got her as a 2 week old feral stray, so she doesn’t have fantastic outdoor coping skills. Luckily, Ginger cat has excellent skills, and he has taught her a lot. She is capable of catching mice now, but she wasn’t before, for example. I hope she is out there somewhere, catching them… trying to come home…

I often see on the Bee US bees encouraging cats to be kept indoors. It boggles my mind. After reading your blog i can understand why they would choose to do so. Its amazing the differences here than in the US.

I have a cat, and have always had cats since i was very small. They have all been outdoor cats.

My current cat was encouraged to be an outdoor cat from a very young age after all his jabs but never showed much of an interest.

He is now 3 and stays to the confinements of our back garden by choice. He will occassionally roam around the front of the house but will not leave our property. This is great!

He is unlikely to get run over and go astray.

ETA: Im so sorry you are still yet to find your missing cat 🙁 you are a trooper for the way you are going about finding her.

@ChocolateLime: Thanks… I currently have a wildlife camera set up on another property to check possible sightings. The woman who saw this cat said she was sure it was Pika’, but her camera phone is rubbish! My instinct says that it is not her, but the markings are very, very similar. We’ll see what the camera captures.

A neighbour also said she had 3 cats poisoned by antifreeze, which probably means that someone has an unsecured shed nearby (I also store my antifreeze in my shed… I don’t generally keep dangerous chemicals inside the house). That’s bad news on the one hand, but good news on the other… at least a stray cat would have a safe place to sleep. Also, a lot of local people seem to feed cats. Really… a lot. Some of them also feed foxes, which explains a lot about the high level of aggression in local foxes!

As far as the article goes, I don’t think most US bees actually realise that outdoor access cats usually don’t travel very far from the home at all. They don’t roam for miles, and rarely go beyond a 1 house radius of their home. Their territory is usually less than 100m in diameter, and their max roaming range is usually only about 300m. Even cats which go missing for months or years usually end up within a mile radius of their home. I think a lot of US bees think that outdoor access cats roam for miles and miles, and have no road sense, and it’s simply not true!

@ChocolateLime: Apart from Pika’! I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that I love Pika’ like a child, but she is the most stupid cat I have ever met. She’s always getting herself into trouble because she’s so thick. Even inside the house, she has a habit of getting stuck in teeny tiny spaces. That’s why I always had a bad feeling about letting her out.

I’m still debating keeping Ginger in at night with DH… he says that Ginger is as clever as Pika’ is stupid, and is more than capable of looking after himself. I say that all the smarts in the world don’t stop the cat from being attacked by a fox, fleeing onto the road in a blind panic, and being struck by a car. That’s probably my greatest fear.

Ginger is sweet though. If he’s given full outdoor access, he comes and meets me as I walk home. If I’m talking to someone, or on the phone, and he hears my voice, the next thing I see is a streak of orange fur heading towards me at high speed, trying to leap into my arms!

Great first blog! I loved reading the differences! I didn’t read the entire blog but did you mention snakes in the US? Those are a HUGE threat to animals outdoors in the US. And you’re spot on about the coyotes. My MIL lost her cat to one, and my aunt in law lost two of hers to coyotes! My mom’s dog got in a fight with one, while my mom watched in horror! Thankfully her dog survived it. My sister in law lost one cat by a vehicle and almost lost her second to a snake. Thankfully it wasn’t a viper! So infection meds worked fine for her kitty. I wish I was exaggerating but I’m not. I have Facebook friends post coyote, bob cat, and bear pictures WEEKLY! I bet it’s really nice having the option without having to fear so much though. 🙂

UK cat owner with exclusively indoor cats here! I loved your blog, i thought the advice was very helpful. We had a long hard think before we decided our cats would be indoor only, and we came to the decision purely because of the particular area we live in. The road we live on is dangerous, and every week there is a new poster of missing pets on the lamp posts. We also live directly on a bus route, which was a deciding factor, and it has been reported frequently that there are pet snatchers in our area. If we lived somewhere quieter we probably would have let them roam, but as it is we have two fully-grown but small cats and a house that is by far big enough to give them space to roam. They also spend a lot of time play fighting with one another (never aggressively) so they get a lot of exercise that way. I have had cats all my life, and these are my first indoor only cats. I have noticed that these cats are also much friendlier and softer tempered than my previous cats. None of my cats have ever been unfriendly or feral, but I have never even heard these two hiss and have never been scratched, even when I accidentally stood on one’s tail. They love being picked up and handled, even the big Tom, and the female likes to ride around the house on my shoukders lol. I always wondered if being kept indoors had given them a sweeter temperament.

@TheLawrenceBride: That is interesting…. like I said, I found that the reverse was true, certainly for Ginger and Smudge. They are better behaved and more affectionate with more outdoor access. But then, they do suffer from being kept inside, whereas I have two friends with indoor only cats (they live in flats) who have never had the problems I have had with those two. I suspect that most cats can be raised either way without any ill affects, but Smudge’s nervous disposition and Ginger’s high prey drive have limited my choices here.

Pika’ has never suffered from being kept indoors at all… but then, like I said, she should really have been indoor only from day 1.

How funny! I guess it’s all subjective to the cat really. These two are also from the same litter, whereas before i had never had more than one cat at any time, so I dont know if that could explain the difference in temperament. I hope your little Pika’ returns 🙁 As you seem well aware though, cats are survivors. I’m sure wherever she is, she is looking after herself. My FI had a cat called Dodger who went missing for over a month. His mum sat him down to explain to him that sometimes when cats are old or sick they go off somewhere to die. Two days after that conversation, Dodger walked back in the door with a (still piping hot) sausage that he had clearly stolen from someone’s house lol

@TheLawrenceBride: I’m totally hoping! I miss my baby so much. (She was secretly my favourite, although Ginger came a very, very close second! Not much in it at all…)

The thing about Smudge is that she was a present from my MIL, and she came to us as an 8 week old kitten from a house where they had loads of kittens that they didn’t really look after very well. She hadn’t been properly socialised and could be quite aggressive. It was clear from quite early on that she was going to have some degree of behavioural problems. I think her issues as an adult cat really stem from that.

Then, of course, Ginger was a 6 month old feral stray when I got him. Survival of the fittest meant that the cats who survived on the feral colony he came from were those who were extremely highly intelligent, and with a massive prey drive. I have never met a more intelligent cat. Example in point… last night, when he wanted to get out, he attempted to turn the key in the lock of the back door, and then pull down the handle, in order to exit. He can open most doors, perform tricks for his adoring public, and escape from locked cat carriers. That level of intelligence is really rare in a cat, and I think it also contributes to his frustration when he is locked indoors.